The Washington Nationals are sending three players to the MLB All-Star Game. Hitters Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Juan Soto are each deserving and for a team that’s 40-42 on the season, sending three is a solid accomplishment.
However, there’s a huge omission from the group the Nationals are sending to Denver, Colorado next week.
For the first time since 2012, right-handed pitcher Max Scherzer was not named an All-Star. While he is 36 years of age, the three-time Cy Young winner is having arguably the best season of his career.
In his 14th year, Scherzer has a career-best 2.10 ERA through 16 starts. His ERA is seventh-best in the major leagues this season. His 0.848 WHIP is also a career-best for him — three-time Cy Young winner! He ranks fourth in MLB this year in WHIP. Scherzer also has a 12.1 strikeouts per nine inning rating — sixth in MLB.
Instead, starters Jacob deGrom, Corbin Burnes, Yu Darvish, Kevin Gausman, German Marquez, Trevor Rogers, Zack Wheeler and Brandon Woodruff were named to the NL All-Star team over Scherzer. MLB’s rule of having at least one player from each team at the All-Star Game may have played a factor in the snub of Scherzer.
deGrom (New York Mets), Rogers (Miami Marlins) and Marquez (Colorado Rockies) each are the lone representation of their respective teams. No one is arguing against deGrom’s selection. He leads MLB with a 0.95 ERA, 0.54 WHIP and 14.4 K’s/9.
Rogers has comparable numbers to Scherzer. He has a 2.14 ERA in 16 starts, nine of which are quality starts. But his 1.04 WHIP and 2.9 wins above replacement are a tad behind Scherzer. Meanwhile, Marquez doesn’t have glaring numbers like Scherzer — 3.62 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 8.5 strikeouts per nine inning.
Scherzer’s snub is even more interesting when compared to trio of Nats who did make the All-Star Game. He arguably had the strongest case of any player on the roster. However, ultimately he was left off.
Others may point to Taijuan Walker of the Mets and Brewers’ Freddy Peralta. But, Scherzer still has a more compelling case than either. A three-time Cy Young winner having his best season of his career somehow is not good enough for an All-Star Game nod.
